Does ignorer mean “to ignore”?

Not primarily. Its main sense is not to know: j'ignore son adresse means I don't know his address. The English sense of deliberately taking no notice has entered modern French, mostly with a person as the object (elle m'a ignoré), but with a thing as the object the unaware reading wins. Treat it as a false friend and check the object before you use it.

How do you say “to ignore someone” in French?

For a person, ignorer quelqu'un is now understood, and faire comme si quelqu'un n'existait pas is unambiguous. For a rule, a warning or a piece of advice, use ne pas tenir compte de or, in a more formal register, passer outre. For a message you simply did not reply to, ne pas répondre à is clearer than ignorer.

Is ignorer a regular verb?

Yes, completely. It belongs to the first group and keeps the stem ignor- in every tense, with no accent change and no consonant doubling: j'ignore, nous ignorons, j'ignorais, j'ignorerai, que j'ignore. If you can conjugate parler, you can conjugate ignorer.

What is the difference between j'ignore and je ne sais pas?

They mean the same thing, but j'ignore is more formal and belongs mainly to writing and careful speech: j'ignore les raisons de ce retard. Je ne sais pas is the spoken default. J'ignore also takes a noun comfortably (j'ignore son nom), where the spoken version needs a verb: je ne connais pas son nom.

How do you pronounce ignorer?

The gn is the soft ny sound of agneau or the English word canyon, not a hard g followed by n, so the verb comes out roughly as i-nyo-ré. The final -er of the infinitive is the closed é sound, and in ils ignorent the -ent is silent, leaving i-nyor.

Ignorer Conjugation: All Tenses of the French Verb “ignorer”

Written by Camille Laurent, Lead French Curriculum Editor · Reviewed August 2026

Ignorer usually means “not to know” or “to be unaware of,” not “to ignore.” The conjugation is completely regular; the difficulty is that the verb is a false friend.

At a glance
Infinitive	ignorer
English	not to know, to be unaware of
Verb group	1st group (-er)
Auxiliary	avoir
Past participle	ignoré
Present participle	ignorant

Conjugation tables

Indicatif

Présent (Present)
j'	ignore	I am unaware of
tu	ignores	you are unaware of
il/elle/on	ignore	he/she is unaware of
nous	ignorons	we are unaware of
vous	ignorez	you are unaware of
ils/elles	ignorent	they are unaware of

Imparfait (Imperfect)
j'	ignorais	I was unaware of
tu	ignorais	you were unaware of
il/elle/on	ignorait	he/she was unaware of
nous	ignorions	we were unaware of
vous	ignoriez	you were unaware of
ils/elles	ignoraient	they were unaware of

Passé composé (Perfect)
j'	ai ignoré	I have been unaware of
tu	as ignoré	you have been unaware of
il/elle/on	a ignoré	he/she has been unaware of
nous	avons ignoré	we have been unaware of
vous	avez ignoré	you have been unaware of
ils/elles	ont ignoré	they have been unaware of

Futur simple (Simple future)
j'	ignorerai	I will be unaware of
tu	ignoreras	you will be unaware of
il/elle/on	ignorera	he/she will be unaware of
nous	ignorerons	we will be unaware of
vous	ignorerez	you will be unaware of
ils/elles	ignoreront	they will be unaware of

Plus-que-parfait (Pluperfect)
j'	avais ignoré	I had been unaware of
tu	avais ignoré	you had been unaware of
il/elle/on	avait ignoré	he/she had been unaware of
nous	avions ignoré	we had been unaware of
vous	aviez ignoré	you had been unaware of
ils/elles	avaient ignoré	they had been unaware of

Futur antérieur (Future perfect)
j'	aurai ignoré	I will have been unaware of
tu	auras ignoré	you will have been unaware of
il/elle/on	aura ignoré	he/she will have been unaware of
nous	aurons ignoré	we will have been unaware of
vous	aurez ignoré	you will have been unaware of
ils/elles	auront ignoré	they will have been unaware of

Subjonctif

Subjonctif présent (Subjunctive)
j'	ignore	(that) I be unaware of
tu	ignores	(that) you be unaware of
il/elle/on	ignore	(that) he/she be unaware of
nous	ignorions	(that) we be unaware of
vous	ignoriez	(that) you be unaware of
ils/elles	ignorent	(that) they be unaware of

Subjonctif passé (Past subjunctive)
j'	aie ignoré	(that) I have been unaware of
tu	aies ignoré	(that) you have been unaware of
il/elle/on	ait ignoré	(that) he/she has been unaware of
nous	ayons ignoré	(that) we have been unaware of
vous	ayez ignoré	(that) you have been unaware of
ils/elles	aient ignoré	(that) they have been unaware of

Conditionnel

Conditionnel présent (Conditional)
j'	ignorerais	I would be unaware of
tu	ignorerais	you would be unaware of
il/elle/on	ignorerait	he/she would be unaware of
nous	ignorerions	we would be unaware of
vous	ignoreriez	you would be unaware of
ils/elles	ignoreraient	they would be unaware of

Conditionnel passé (Past conditional)
j'	aurais ignoré	I would have been unaware of
tu	aurais ignoré	you would have been unaware of
il/elle/on	aurait ignoré	he/she would have been unaware of
nous	aurions ignoré	we would have been unaware of
vous	auriez ignoré	you would have been unaware of
ils/elles	auraient ignoré	they would have been unaware of

Impératif

Impératif présent (Imperative)
(tu)	ignore	be unaware of
(nous)	ignorons	let's be unaware of
(vous)	ignorez	be unaware of

Formes impersonnelles

Infinitives and participles
Infinitif	ignorer	to be unaware of
Participe présent	ignorant	being unaware of
Participe passé	ignoré	been unaware of
Infinitif passé	avoir ignoré	to have been unaware of
Participe passé composé	ayant ignoré	having been unaware of

Literary tenses

Passé simple (Simple past)
j'	ignorai	I was unaware of
tu	ignoras	you were unaware of
il/elle/on	ignora	he/she was unaware of
nous	ignorâmes	we were unaware of
vous	ignorâtes	you were unaware of
ils/elles	ignorèrent	they were unaware of

Passé antérieur (Past anterior)
j'	eus ignoré	I had been unaware of
tu	eus ignoré	you had been unaware of
il/elle/on	eut ignoré	he/she had been unaware of
nous	eûmes ignoré	we had been unaware of
vous	eûtes ignoré	you had been unaware of
ils/elles	eurent ignoré	they had been unaware of

Subjonctif imparfait (Imperfect subjunctive)
j'	ignorasse	(that) I was unaware of
tu	ignorasses	(that) you were unaware of
il/elle/on	ignorât	(that) he/she was unaware of
nous	ignorassions	(that) we were unaware of
vous	ignorassiez	(that) you were unaware of
ils/elles	ignorassent	(that) they were unaware of

Subjonctif plus-que-parfait (Pluperfect subjunctive)
j'	eusse ignoré	(that) I had been unaware of
tu	eusses ignoré	(that) you had been unaware of
il/elle/on	eût ignoré	(that) he/she had been unaware of
nous	eussions ignoré	(that) we had been unaware of
vous	eussiez ignoré	(that) you had been unaware of
ils/elles	eussent ignoré	(that) they had been unaware of

How Ignorer behaves

In most French sentences j'ignore is a neutral, slightly formal way of saying I don't know: j'ignore pourquoi, j'ignore son nom, nous ignorions qu'il fallait réserver. The deliberate English sense does exist in modern French when the object is a person — il m'a ignoré toute la soirée — but it is not the first reading a listener reaches for, and with a thing as the object it is not the reading at all. Say j'ignore ce problème to a colleague and they will hear that you have no idea the problem exists.

Ignorer is a fully regular first-group verb: one stem, ignor-, plus the ordinary -er endings in every tense (j'ignore, nous ignorons, j'ignorais, j'ignorerai, que j'ignore). Because the stem begins with a vowel, je always elides to j', and ne becomes n' in j'ignore, il n'ignore rien. Nous ignorions and vous ignoriez are spelled identically in the imparfait and the subjunctive, so only the trigger in front of them tells you which you are reading. The past participle is ignoré, and ignorer que is followed by the indicative: j'ignorais qu'il était marié.

Ignorer takes avoir: j'ai ignoré. Note that the passé composé pushes the verb towards the deliberate reading, so il a ignoré ma question is more likely to mean he brushed my question aside than he was unaware of it.

Ignorer in context

Présent: J'ignore pourquoi le magasin est fermé.
I have no idea why the shop is closed.
Imparfait: Nous ignorions qu'il fallait réserver à l'avance.
We didn't know you had to book in advance.
Passé composé: Il a ignoré mes messages pendant une semaine.
He ignored my messages for a week.
Futur simple: Ils ignoreront toujours le vrai motif de sa démission.
They'll never know the real reason he resigned.
Subjonctif présent: Bien qu'elle ignore les détails, elle a compris l'essentiel.
Even though she doesn't know the details, she's got the gist.

Common mistakes with ignorer

Using ignorer for a place or a person you don't know

✗ J'ignore ce quartier.

✓ Je ne connais pas ce quartier. — I don't know this neighbourhood.

Ignorer works on facts and pieces of information: j'ignore son nom, j'ignore la date. Being unacquainted with a place or a person is ne pas connaître. J'ignore ce quartier sounds like you are refusing to acknowledge that the neighbourhood exists.

Using ignorer for deliberately disregarding something

✗ J'ignore les conseils de mon médecin.

✓ Je ne tiens pas compte des conseils de mon médecin. — I disregard my doctor's advice.

With an inanimate object like advice, a rule or a warning, ignorer is read as being unaware, so the French sentence says you don't know what your doctor advised. For deliberately not acting on something, use ne pas tenir compte de or passer outre.

Forgetting the elision

✗ Je ignore la réponse.

✓ J'ignore la réponse. — I don't know the answer.

Je always contracts to j' before a vowel or a mute h, and the i of ignorer counts. The same applies in the imparfait and the future: j'ignorais, j'ignorerai. Only nous, vous, il and ils keep their full form in front of this stem.

Expressions with ignorer

nul n'est censé ignorer la loi: ignorance of the law is no excuse
j'ignore tout de cette affaire: I know nothing at all about this business

Frequently asked questions

Does ignorer mean “to ignore”?: Not primarily. Its main sense is not to know: j'ignore son adresse means I don't know his address. The English sense of deliberately taking no notice has entered modern French, mostly with a person as the object (elle m'a ignoré), but with a thing as the object the unaware reading wins. Treat it as a false friend and check the object before you use it.
How do you say “to ignore someone” in French?: For a person, ignorer quelqu'un is now understood, and faire comme si quelqu'un n'existait pas is unambiguous. For a rule, a warning or a piece of advice, use ne pas tenir compte de or, in a more formal register, passer outre. For a message you simply did not reply to, ne pas répondre à is clearer than ignorer.
Is ignorer a regular verb?: Yes, completely. It belongs to the first group and keeps the stem ignor- in every tense, with no accent change and no consonant doubling: j'ignore, nous ignorons, j'ignorais, j'ignorerai, que j'ignore. If you can conjugate parler, you can conjugate ignorer.
What is the difference between j'ignore and je ne sais pas?: They mean the same thing, but j'ignore is more formal and belongs mainly to writing and careful speech: j'ignore les raisons de ce retard. Je ne sais pas is the spoken default. J'ignore also takes a noun comfortably (j'ignore son nom), where the spoken version needs a verb: je ne connais pas son nom.
How do you pronounce ignorer?: The gn is the soft ny sound of agneau or the English word canyon, not a hard g followed by n, so the verb comes out roughly as i-nyo-ré. The final -er of the infinitive is the closed é sound, and in ils ignorent the -ent is silent, leaving i-nyor.